Whetstone Chocolates in Saint Augustine, Florida has been making chocolates for decades.
When you walk in, there’s a display set up to look like the I Love Lucy candy wrapper episode.
There is Whetstone history all along the walls from it’s start in 1967 as a home kitchen. Henry and Esther Whetstone started with 13 fudges and hand dipped chocolates.
In 1991 Hershey asked them to make melt resistant chocolate for the military. The result was the Desert Bar used in Desert Storm. They also started producing Hershey kisses with almonds.
In 1995 Nestlé asked them to make Nestlé’s Magic Ball. This is hollowed chocolate with Disney characters inside.
This is still a working chocolate factory, so what is being made in the factory on each tour can be bought in the a shop next door.
To start the tour we got to sample the Fudge. I got to try peanut butter chocolate and cookies and cream. This is how they started their business, and I can see why it was so popular. The fudge was really creamy.
We learned a lot about the chocolate making process. Everything from the bean to the bar. You learn a lot of fun facts about chocolate. For example, all chocolate melts at 80°F; Fudge melts at 150°F; As long as only cocoa butter is in the ingredients, then it’s considered chocolate. Any other oils that are added changes it to chocolate flavoring.
On the tour, we got to try several of their chocolates. We started with milk chocolate and ended with dark chocolate.
Aviles is a blended milk chocolate with 31% Cocco. This is a Swiss formula with light sweetness. It melts fast and is super creamy.
San Marco is white chocolate with 0% cocoa. It’s creamy and light. It has a caramel taste. It’s sweeter than milk chocolate. It’s 55% sugar and 30% cocoa butter.
De Leon is dark chocolate with 47% cocoa. It’s got a reddish tint with fruity wine flavors. This is made from the Dutch process. Dark chocolate doesn’t have any milk in it. There is a little milk fat in this piece, which is what makes it creamy.
Menendez is a dark chocolate with 72% Cocco. It’s made from the Swiss process. It’s low roasted and aged to provide a mellow balanced flavor. It’s very bitter and has a slight aftertaste. Everyone’s taste buds are different so this will taste different for everybody.
Artisan chocolates are made during each tour and you get a special artisan chocolate to try. It’s made special each day for sampling. We even got to watch it being made in the factory.
We got to actually walk the working factory on the tour. We got to watch molds being filled and wrapped. They were making shells and alligators the day we were there. We got to see the cooling racks. We got to see how trays of chocolate got worked.
We even saw popcorn being made, with chocolate being drizzled on top.
It is a really fun tour to get to experience if you’re in Saint Augustine, Florida.
I highly recommend to check it out and enjoy some chocolate.
Enjoy!
T
